From Tom Garba, Yola
The Adamawa House of Assembly has said it would not allow the use of any language other than English by members on the floor of the House.
Chief Whip and House Committee Chairman on Information, Hon Hassan Barguma, made this known Tuesday in an interview in Yola.
Barguma, who was reacting to calls by some members of the public on the need to allow the use of vernacular, particularly Hausa, to enable some members who could not speak fluent English to start contributing to debate during plenary said the House would not contemplate that.
Barguma said that the House was not contemplating allowing members to use vernacular in the house as Adamawa has over 100 language.
Barguma said those clamouring for the use of vernacular needed to know that being a lawmaker was not all about contributing on the floor of the House.
“If a member can lobby for projects in his constituency without making contribution during plenary what’s wrong with that? If the people of a constituency felt they want someone that will be speaking during plenary, next time they should vote for someone that is vocal,” Barguma said.
The lawmaker explained that all the 25 members of the House were educated and understood English Language, adding that people should not worry about contribution on the floor of the House “as that cannot be use as an indices to determine the success of a lawmaker.”
Barguma said the public needed to know that while some lawmakers were vocal, some were introvert and that such was not peculiar to Adamawa Assembly alone.
“It’s so in other states, National Assembly and other assemblies in US and UK”, Barguma said.
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